Yesterday, horrible and rainy with temps in the low 30's. Tomorrow, we are supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow. But today, now today is nice. It is about 60 degrees out and sunny, with a tiny warmish breeze. It's just a nice day to run.I wasn't able to get out for as long of a run as I would have like and what I had planned to do, but I got in a solid 5.5 miler at a pace of 7:45/mile. It felt good. Sometimes a run just feels good, and your mood, your physical feeling, mental feeling, everything afterwards just feels right. Today is that day for me. Go out and run, try to capture it for yourself too!Before the friggin snow!!! :)

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

This is like the third or fourth Tuesday in a row that the weather has quite simply sucked. Normally my long run day, I have had multiple weeks of adjusting runs midweek. Although this isn't a huge deal, it prevents me from going long Tuesday and then doing speed work on Thursday. I cannot go longer on Wednesday and do speed work the next day. However, in my mind, I just can't go long in rainy, low 30's temps when I know tomorrow is going to be like 60 degrees. I kept it to a nice, comfortable 6 miler today in just under 8:30/mile pace. I felt good the whole run, and the hills were no issue, although significant in two stretches.Tomorrow, I will go long and do some HIIT work. I am hoping to squeeze in a race this weekend, but it isn't looking good. More on that if it develops.

I have gotten stale about my standard smoothie recipes lately. In an effort to change things up for a new taste, as well as nutritional benefits of other foods, I recently tried 2 new make shift recipes. First, a pumpkin smoothie. Pumpkin is a sneaky good food for you. By this I mean, most people are unaware of the many benefits of pumpkin. Here is a link to just some of the benefits.Pumpkin Smoothie2 cups almond milk1 frozen banana1/3-1/2 can pumpkin pureecouple shakes of cinnamon (to taste)couple shakes of pumpkin spice (to taste)My second go to shake of the last couple weeks is even a little more unconventional for most, especially me. It's a berry beet shake. I know, beets?!?! Yep, the benefits of beets are widely known in the fitness industry, especially for runners and cyclists. Click here for a site outlining some of the nutritional benefits of beets. I do not like the taste or smell of beets. They just taste dirty to me, but I decided to try and see if I could get them in a shake without tasting them. Success! Even my kids enjoy this shake recipe, asking for it.

Berry Beet Smoothie

2 cups almond milk

1 frozen banana

1 Dannon L&F Strawberry Yogurt

1/3 cup of frozen berries

1/3-1/2 can beets

Both of these shakes are a little different, but I also like that there aren't 15 different ingredients, roots, extracts, and things that will const you an arm and a leg at some specialty store. Give them a try and let me know if you like, how you would modify them, and if you have a smoothie recipe to share!